Strawberry huller



y 1945- L. A. FR'ASHER 2,376,135

STRAWBERRY IHULLER Filed Nov. 22, 1944 Inventor .L/bydfilfiasber,

W g a v 1 flnger of the operators hand.

' provision of means the free ends of the jaws ":LloydtA L'JFra'sher, Riverside, Calif. j AppIication NovemberZZ,1944, saain a s a This invention relates to certain newandzuseful-improvementsembodied in a well known type of strawberry huller,

There are perhaps many different styles of strawberry hullers made and sold. However, a conventional form is the tweezers-like construction shown and described, for example, in the patent to A. W. Stephens, 18, 1906. This huller is characterized, as is the huller in this application, by a pair of normally diverging arms of resilient metal, these serving as jaws and being connected at corresponding ends by a hinging bend. The free or outer ends of the jaws are fashioned with nipping flangesflanges with apertured' bosses thumb and foreand inward of the to accommodate the tips of the of the instant In carrying out the principles 7 invention, the conventional strawberry I huller,

duplicated, but improved by the located adjacent the bend and interposed between the arms or jaws, the means constituting jaw-spacing abutments and also functioning as fulcruming elements or points, whereby to minimize stress and strain on the hinging bend and to appreciably prolong the utility of the device over a protracted period of. time.

More specifically, the means constituting the just described, is

improvement comprises concavo-convex indentations fashioned irom the arms and. having their 838,662, of December hullers are well aras; (cine-554) F r zisaton PmJ JYi W fS 1) 1 I Figure 3 is a. longitudinal sectional, view, this occurring on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. Referring now to the drawingby distinguishing characters and in reference to the admittedly old parts, the huller, as a unit, is indicated by the reference character A. As stated, this comprises a pair of spring-separated resilient arms B connected at corresponding ends by a resilient hinging bend C and diverging therefrom and terminating in the usual decapping and huller flanges D. These are sometimes referred to as curvate nippers.

the latter to accommodate the thumb and forefinger of the user. Incidentally these types of known and their use is well understood and for that reason I shall not dwell on the old parts or their method of use.

As before indicated the distinctive improvement upon which attention is to be focused is the means interposed between the arms B and the abutting crown portions properly positioned in relation to the bend and the nipping means on thus maintaining the shape and functioning of the hinging bend and. providing a new fulcruming action for the jaws at points outwardly of said spacing and fulcruming indentations.

Stated otherwise, the invention is such as to overcome the tendency of the jaws to gradually close duringuse, due to constant flexing of said jaws and to obviate the necessity of occasional forcible spreading of the jaws, whereby to preserve the' hingingbend and its resilient properties and noticeably protecting and increasing the life of the huller as a whole;

Other features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawing.

In the drawing, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like 'parts throughout the same- I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a strawberry huller embodying the added spacing and jawfulcruming abutments,

hinging bend C which means serves to space and hold the arms apart and which is located within thevicinity of the bend in order to retain and preserve the same in its original state, whereby to achieve the aims herein shown and described. Specifically, the means comprises vex indentations formed integral with the arms B, these being indicated by the numerals 4. They are identical and are disposed opposite each other so that their rounded crown portions come together to serve as rocking abutments. They are sufficiently self-adapting to provide the desired.

spacing and bend retaining result as well as to function as mound-like rockers allowing the desired degree of'flexing 'and'fulcruming of the armsand jaws on the outer ends of said arms. I have experimented with the conventional type of huller minus these added fulcruming' abutments and find that breakage at the hinge point C often occurs. Moreover, the elasticity or resiliency is impaired over a relatively short period of time. The presence of the fulcruming and spacing abutments overcomes the .tendency of the jaws to gradually close during useand obviates the necessity of having to spread said jaws apart in order to produce the desired degree of effectiveness and suitable operability.

' sion is removed from the hinge, and compensated forby the fulcrum means, as shown, is applicable to any and all types of mechanical appliances in which spring tension is used to keep Inwardly of these nippers D are the 'usual indentations'forming apertured bosses E,

concavo-conas tweezers, pincers, and its use will prolong the life of such appliances as well as make them more easily cleaned and sterilized.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawing. Therefore, a more length description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in the shape, size and arrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

I claim:

1. Article handling resilient tongs comprising a pair of bendable arms disposed in spaced diverging relationship and having their inner corresponding ends connected together by a self-accommodating resilient hinging bend, the outer ends of the arms being provided with article gripping jaw elements, and a, pair of coacting opposed concavo-convex bosses formed on the inner faces of said arms and located adjacent said bend with their crown portions movable toward and from each other to function as arm-fulcruming elements.

2. A strawberry huller comprising a substantially V-shaped implement formed from a single piece of metal bent upon itself to define a pair of Opposed duplicate diverging and spaced arms'and a connecting and hinging bend, means on the outer free ends of said arms to accommodate the operators fingers and to accomplish the desired hulling results, and means interposed between the arms adjacent said bend to space the arms, to

protect the bend, and to permit the arms to rockably fulcrum on said means, the means being in the form of opposed indentations formed from the arms themselves, said indentations being of concavo-convex configuration with their rounded crown portions in rockable contact with each other.

LLOYD A. FRASHER. 

